klev upp efter precis fem timmars sömn. var på praktiken från 7.30-14.00, somnade nästan på morgonen då det som vanligt inte fanns någonting speciellt att göra. for hem. blev överaskad av en härlig kexblandning och vitmögelost som jag förstod att mamma lämnat här. HALLELUJA. pluggade, blev så trött och less på att slå upp ord och synonymer som jag gjort stor del av dagen att jag lade mig ner. somnade, sov en timme. vaknade kl. 18. inte hungrig. pluggade ännu mer. lagade laxgryta och potmos. åt kl. 20. pluggat tills nu. btw. jag pluggade på praktiken också. vad har jag gjort idag? pluggat.. ja. jag har just så pass nästan kommit ikapp mitt "schema över saker jag måste hinna göra innan nästa vecka".  Jag säger bara. ni MÅSTE läsa Joyce Carol Oates novell - Where are you going, where do you come from?
Jag har analyserat den i detalj om det är någon som är intresserad av att läsa den, finns den här, notera att allt är skrivet i form av anteckningar, dvs hur jag ska säga detta på seminariet på måndag:

There are a number of things that differ between a novel and a short story. What is characteristic about a short story is not just that it is shorter than a novel, it is usually written in prose, with a narrative form. It is not as complex as a novel. It focuses on a one incident, a single plot, a single setting, a small number of characters and covers a short period of time. It usually has a abrupt beginning, where you begin in the middle of the action.

A good short story can catch anyone’s, even my dad’s, interest.

A novel sometimes does not get exiting until the end. A short story takes that excitement and put it in to this intense couple of pages. It’s like taking all the good stuff out of a novel. If you are not a reading type of person a short story is perfect for you as I said before. It is easier to read because the language is simpler. You do not need to know a whole about the background, just the essential. It’s few characters. You don’t have to remember that much.

“she knew she was pretty and that was everything” – simple, that is about everything you need to know about Connie. She is self-centred/self-absorbed. She think she’s the centre of the world/action.

There is no explanation on how they say or ask thing, there is just a sentence or a question. You do not really know what is going on inside Connie’s head all of the time.

“ ‘Around the other side’s a lot more –you wanta come and see them?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘Why should I?’

‘Don’tcha wanta see what’s on the car? Don’tche wanta go for a ride?’”

In a novel it could have been something like this:

“No, she answered; she wanted to end this conversation.” (she felt uncomfortable having this conversation).

“She rushed forward and tried to lock the door. Her fingers were shaking. ‘But why lock it’, Arnold Friend said gently, talking right into her face.”

1. Connie, who is very interested in older boys and the grown up world, gets in trouble when one of the older boys that checked her out last night comes to her parent’s house when she is home alone.  She cannot decide whether she like him of not. After he describe what his sign is she start to be suspicious. After that Arnold Friend becomes another person and start to be rude and threaten her and her family. 

The climax is when she runs to the back room to call the police.

2. The story is narrated by a third person. It is like that person has been around Connie for some while to get to know her. The story is told like the narrator is standing right beside Connie and telling the story as it goes on. The narrator is telling us what to observe.

3. Connie is the protagonist. Connie knows she is beautiful, but that is all she is. She is in love with the idea of being in love and in her mind a fairytale takes place. She thinks her life is or are going to be like the ones in the movies and the songs. She thinks a prince is going to sweep her of her feet, and they’ll live happily ever after. She thinks that all boys are going to be nice to her. She does not realise the danger about walking away alone with a boy she does not know. She does not really think things through. She cannot make up her mind whether she likes Arnold or not. He is an older boy, he is definitely a sexually active man and he offers her an opportunity to escape from her miserable world.

Arnold Friend who pretends to be an 18-year-old boy turns out to be the devil in disguise. He is good at manipulating and persuading Connie to do things she does not want to do. He seems to know about everything that happens around the world. You do not know whether he is human or demon, real or not.

-          If you take the ‘R’ from Arnold Friend it says An Old Fiend [feend] that refers to the devil. ‘R’ is also the eighteenth letter in the alphabet. 18 is the missing number between 19 17 that is written on the side of his car.

-          Later on in the story you get the feeling that his is disguised. He wear big booths to cover his hooves. His car is golden which is a divine colour. 

-          He has been around for centuries. This is very concrete in the sentence: “as if he were running through all the expressions that he learned but was not sure which one of them was in style”.

-          The devil cannot go into your house uninvited.

-          Jesus said the same thing to one of his disciples [dih-sahy-pull], as Arnold says to Connie; “Don’t you know who I am?”.

4. It is told that Oates was inspired to write this short story by three murders that took place in Arizona. The setting takes place somewhere in Arizona maybe. Oates describes places where Connie usually hangs out. She also describes that is it summer vacation and very hot outside. First you get an idea what Connie is like and what she likes to do. Later the story takes place at Connie’s dad’s house, mostly in front of the house and in the doorway.

5. Fantasy and reality
Connie wants the reality to be like a fairytale. A perfect life for a perfect girl. She thinks her family is dull and boring. She wants to have an exciting life. When Arnold Friend comes to her house. He seems to be real, a normal guy. Later on you can’t decide whether he is still human or a demon. 
Search for independence

Connie thinks it’s boring to be home with her family. Her mother always has something to complain about. Connie loves to go out with her friends and explore the town, the shopping plaza and to meet new cute boys that will take care of her. She wants to grow up and be an adult, so that she doesn’t have to have as much to do with her family. I think Connie doesn’t want to be like June, still living at home at the age of twenty-four. She might think that she can go out with Arnold if she wants to because no one can tell her what to do; she’s home alone.

6. Where are you going, where have you been? I think that a part from the text answers that quite good. It says: “The place where you came from ain’t there any more, and where you had in mind to go is cancelled out. This place you are now – inside your daddy’s house – is nothing but a cardboard box I can knock out any time.” Oates asks Connie what her past has been like and what the future will be for her. She has not done much in life, just complained. She is just beautiful and has no plans about the future. She is nothing. She closes her future when she walks out the door.

a. The title is taken from the bible. Remember the numbers on Arnolds car? 33 19 17. The 33^rd book of the old testament is the Judgesbook. In chapter 19 verse 17 it says: “When he saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, ‘Where are you going?  Where did you come from?’”

KEYWORDS

“- none of them bothered with church-”  In the beginning of the 11^th paragraph, the one that begins with “One Sunday..” I really thought about why certain things happened and what things and signs might have meant in the story. The main reason for that is that I believe that Arnold Friend is an evil demon or the Devil, as I said before there’s a lot of signs and clues that points that out. The devil only occurs in the Christianity. If you don’t follow the right path, the Bible, you will go to hell. One of the Ten Commandments says that you should honour your father and mother and you will have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given you. I just want to point out that I’m not a Christian myself. The tradition says that if you don’t follow the Ten Commandments you will go to hell. Connie’s disrespectful to her mother and God will punish her.

 

The other keyword that I’ve chosen is “’Connie, don’t fool around with me. I mean-I mean, don’t fool around’, he said, shaking his head.” Another Commandment says that you disrespect the Lord if you commit adultery. This is not what Connie’s doing, but she’s fooling around with several different boys. According to Christianity you have to be married before you have sexual intercourse. We don’t know whether Connie has done that with any of the boys. “Fooling around” or “thoughts about the boy she had been with the night before and how nice he had been,” can mean a lot of things. Fooling around could mean that she has met several boys at night or that she has been making out or having sex with several boys. Since Arnold according to me is the Devil, he, just like God, knows everything that happens. You can’t get away unnoticed.